Carson boys basketball too much for Fernley

BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Carson's Rob Valerius drives to the basket against Fernley during the Carson Classic on Thursday.

Playing three games in three days is a tough grind even for the deepest of boys basketball squads.

Carson rolled to a 16-point first half lead and rolled to a 76-47 victory over Fernley at Morse Burley Gym Thursday night in the first round of the 30th annual Capital City Classic hosted by the Carson City Lions Club.

Carson coach Bruce Barnes played all 13 of his players, and 11 of them scored.

“We played with a lot of energy,” Barnes said. “With the lead, we were able to rotate a a lot and keep everybody fresh.

“That’s the way I like to do it. Everybody works hard in practice. In preseason, I want to give people as much time as I can so we can figure out a rotation. It’s great when you have three games to put everybody in.”

The energy was the key for the Senators, who forced 20 turnovers with their stifling press and double-team tactics, and Carson turned those mistakes into 27 points, and when you consider Carson won by 29, that’s an important stat.

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“They were never able to get in a flow (because of the pressure),” Barnes said. “We started out in the zone, and we were giving up some shots. We went to the man-to-man and forced the issue. We were bringing a lot of energy to the floor, and that’s why I was happy.”

And, it’s the way the Senators have to play minus a true big man. Their helter-skelter type of tactics are meant to disrupt and force teams to make some bad decisions, and that’s what Fernley did.

“We took too many possessions away from ourselves,” Fernley coach Dave Burns said. “Unfortunately when you play a good team like Carson, you have to shoot the ball well and take care of the ball.

“They were a step quicker in transition from defense to offense. We had been shooting well all year.”

With the score tied at 8 thanks to two treys by Will Holbert, Carson went on a 19-4 run over the final 3 minutes 20 seconds of the first period and the first 2:40 of the second period to grab a 27-12 advantage.

Paul Cagle drained a three and Zach Weismann converted a turnover against the press into a lay-up. Sean Arrington scored for Fernley, but the Senators got a putback from Rob Valerius after a Fernley turnover, David Eller scored on a lay-up and Weismann scored on a lay-up for a 19-10 lead.

Arrington scored again to make it 19-12 in the waning seconds of the opening quarter. Carson opened the second quarter with eight straight points, as Weismann drove the lane for a score, Valerius worked his way underneath for a hoop, Matt Rutledge hit a mid-range jump shot and Weismann scored on another lay-up for the aforementioned 15-point lead.

The teams played on near-even terms the rest of the half. Eller scored two straight baskets to end the first half and make it 43-27 at the half.

The Senators were 18 of 36 for the half, and many of those were high-percentage shots.

“Zach had a Zach-type of game,” Barnes said of Weismann. “He’s pretty confident shooting the ball. Will shot (early) like I know he can. (Caleb) coming off the bench is one of our better shooters.”

Fernley didn’t shoot that poorly against Carson. The Vaqueros shot nearly 50 percent in the first half, but cooled off considerably in the second half, shooting just 33 percent.

Carson outscored Fernley 11-2 to open the second half, taking a 54-29 lead. Valerius had five points in the surge and Holbert knocked down his last two baskets of the night.

Fernley was able to only trim the deficit down to 24 in the second half.

The Hawks rolled to a 26-6 first-quarter lead and coasted to a 20-point victory over Spring Creek.

Armon Johnson, who is headed to Nevada’s basketball program, led the Hawks with 30 points. Johnson had nine field goals, five from beyond the 3-point arc, and he also knocked down nine free throws. Johnson had 17 of his points in the third quarter.

Duke Williams added 17 and Riley Rowe 13. Courtney Gardner scored all eight of his points in the first-quarter, helping spearhead the early surge.

Taylor Marchbanks’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent the game into overtime, and Spanish Springs outscored the Railroaders 8-4 in the extra period to win the tourney opener.

Kyle Hernandez led Spanish Springs with 23 points and Marchbanks followed with 15, 10 of those coming in the second half and overtime session. Daniel Lide added 10 for the Cougars, including four in the overtime session.

Zach Quilici led Sparks with 20 points, followed by Albert Claypool with 11 and Alex Toler with 10.